MamaBake on a budget: Black Beans – 5 recipes

With Winter upon us, and energy prices soaring, it’s never been a better time to shop, cook and eat with a budget in mind. This is where beans and pulses come out to shine in some amazingly delicious, warming, filling and nutritious recipes!

A very good friend of mine is completely enamored with black beans, calling them ‘Nature’s Lollies’, which, if nothing else, provide some incentive for encouraging fussy eaters to hook into these delicious recipes.

Black beans are delicious and nutritious, high in potassium, fibre, protein, calcium, iron and magnesium. Black beans turn up a lot in Mexican dishes, where the beans are a staple food. These delicious recipes are mostly gluten free and Vegan, including a surprising dessert recipe. Check out Dry Pulses and Beans: A Guide to Buying, Storing, Soaking and Cooking for how to select and cook your black beans.

Recipe 1:
Bean Chilli (GF and vegan if you use Vegan cheese or omit the mozzarella and yogurt)

Method

Finely chop the onion and capsicum. Remove the leaves from the coriander stalks, and set them aside. Finely chop the coriander stalks. Finely dice the garlic and chilli.

In a large heavy bottomed pot, add a couple tablespoons of cooking oil and bring to medium heat. Add the onion, capsicum, garlic, coriander stalks and chilli and cook until soft.

Add the soaked black beans and the contents of the cans of tomatoes

Place the lid on the pot and allow the chilli to simmer for 2 hours. Season at the end of cooking time with salt and pepper and not before, because the salt will cause the outside of the beans to be hard.

Meanwhile, skin and dice the avocado, dressing it with lime juice. Dice the tomato and combine with the chopped avocado and the reserved coriander leaves. Season this salsa with salt and pepper.

To serve the chilli, distribute chilli into bowls and allow people to add their own salsa, grated mozzarella, tabasco sauce and yogurt or sour cream.